Westport Police Dept Investigating 'Zoombombing' Incident During School Committee Meeting

Westport Police Dept Investigating 'Zoombombing' Incident During School Committee Meeting

Westport Superintendent of Schools Gary Reese and Police Chief Keith Pelletier report that the Westport Police Department is investigating an incident that occurred when a person made an obscene gesture during a school-hosted Zoom meeting with children and families viewing Wednesday night.

School officials were hosting a Westport School Committee meeting via the Zoom video conferencing platform. The meeting included over 200 participants, including parents, school officials, elected officials, and some students.

The incidents are not new. A Providence press conference hosted by Jorge Elorza was hit. A number of major school systems have banned the use of Zoom for meetings and instruction.

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At approximately 6:40 p.m., an individual was recognized to speak, and when the video was turned on they were making sexually graphic gestures and comments directed at a school committee member. The individual was removed from the meeting immediately.

The Westport Police Department and FBI were notified, and criminal investigations have been launched.

Zoom has been under fire for months for security issues and on Monday, the platform went down in North America and the United Kingdom disrupting millions of scheduled business meetings and online learning for schools.

According to Westport police, an initial review indicates that proper protocols were followed for hosting a Zoom meeting, however, Reese and the district's technology staff will be reviewing these protocols and will reconsider whether the Zoom platform has enough safeguards to host future school committee meetings safely.

Zoombombing incidents have become prevalent in recent months around the world as more people have been utilizing Zoom and other video conferencing programs to host meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district will be offering counseling and assistance to any meeting attendee who wishes to further discuss the incident.

This story was first published 8/26/20 9:21 PM